The House of Representatives voted to cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood on Feb. 18.

The representatives pushing to pass the bill claimed that federal funding should not go toward a place that advocates and provides abortions.

Although abortion is legal in this country, the funding that Planned Parenthood currently receives is not allowed to be used for abortion services. The taxpayer dollars provide many other family planning and health services to millions of women.

“It is difficult to understand why people who say they are opposed to abortion would do so much to undermine the family planning and contraception that helps prevent the need for it,” said Carole Brite, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, in a press release.

In 2010, Planned Parenthood of Illinois provided thousands of STI tests, cervical cancer screenings and breast exams. Cutting funding to this institution would leave millions of women nationwide without the health care they have depended on for years.

Health care reform is a controversial issue in this country, but taking away affordable health care from women who need it does not seem like a step in the right direction.

I understand that some people are morally opposed to abortion. Planned Parenthood, however, would offer options for an unintended pregnancy including providing information about parenting and adoption. Planned Parenthood also offers preventative services so women do not have unintended pregnancies.

“Abortion alone makes most people uncomfortable, but abortion with no questions asked, no matter who is willing to pay–financed by taxpayer dollars?” said Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, in a blog on FoxNews.com. “That can lead to a full cut-off from Congress, and it should.”

The ruling of Roe v. Wade made abortion legal. The Supreme Court decided that women can terminate pregnancies, no questions asked. Yes, even if abortion makes people uncomfortable.

Additionally, the funding Planned Parenthood receives is used for all the other necessary services they provide to women like HIV tests and birth control. One might argue that giving any funding to Planned Parenthood indirectly pays for abortions by freeing up funds that would otherwise be used for other services. But you could say that about virtually anything that is taxed.

I just do not understand the logic of this situation. Cutting funding will not help people who need the help. People who work at Planned Parenthood will lose their jobs.

I am not sure how that is going to help the economy. Leaving women with no other options can lead to dangerous self-remedies to an unintended pregnancy.

“[Those] who want to put Planned Parenthood out of business have not explained how the three million Americans currently served by Planned Parenthood’s more than 800 health centers will get the health care they need if this dangerous provision becomes law,” Brite said in the release.

Planned Parenthood gives people safe options. Ultimately, cutting funding will hurt millions of women across the country and is a step backward for women’s rights.